Die Hard 30th Anniversary: How does the action thriller stand up to the test of time?

DIE HARD is one of the most well-known action movies of all time, but one Express.co.uk writer went to the special Father's Day screening never having seen Bruce Willis as John McClane before. Express.co.uk asks: Does the action thriller stand up to the test of time?

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Bruce Willis was only 33 when he starred in the first Die Hard alongside Alan Rickman as the infamous Hans Gruber.

Quotes from Die Hard have worked their way ubiquitously into our vernacular and yet to hear them said in the most nonchalant way by a haggard John McClane gives them a deeper meaning.

For those who have managed to escape seeing Die Hard, the basic plot follows New York City cop John McClane as he flies to LA to visit his wife at a party in her company’s lavish high-rise.

Plans change once a group of terrorists, led by Hans Gruber seize the building and take everyone hostage, McClane slips away and becomes the only chance anyone has in this beginning-to-end heart-stopping action thriller.

Die Hard starred a young Bruce Willis as John McClane (Image: 20th Century Fox)

Die Hard is, surprisingly, a subtle movie. Not the word you might expect to describe a film full of explosions, hanging and high stakes thieving.

But in comparison to the superhero movies of the last decade or so, Die Hard feels somehow contrastingly quieter, less heroic, more necessary and urgent.

The stakes may not be as high as Avengers: Infinity War, but they feel more palpable.

John McClane may not be as erudite as Captain America, but his frantic sarcasm brings bright humour to an otherwise distressing situation.

The best line in Die Hard isn't his infamous 'yippie kay yay' nor is it the threat scrawled onto the jumper of a dead German terrorist: Now I have a machine gun, ho ho ho.

Alan Rickman starred in Die Hard as the German terrorist Hans Gruber (Image: 20th Century Fox)

As John McClane finally makes contact with emergency services via his radio, the operator says in an overtly annoyed tone: "Sir, you know this number is for emergencies?"

An exasperated McClane hollers back in increasingly higher pitched voice: "No f*cking sh*t, lady, does it sound like I'm ordering a pizza?"

Laughter rippled through the theatre even as the emergency line operator continued to be the worst employee in history.

McClane's heroics are full of improvised absurdity, feats you know would never work in the real world, and yet because they take place without any supernatural or interplanetary assistance, they somehow feel genuine.

For all these reasons, Die Hard stands the test of time, especially given the superhero movies increasing use of grandiosity.

One of Die Hard's most iconic lines was written on a sweater (Image: 20th Century Fox)

Die Hard's explosions are extravagant, its stunts are hamfisted, and its acting is exactly what you expect from a movie from the 1980s and for all of that it still feels more intimate and real than a Marvel or X Men movie.

And at the end of all of it, there is a genuine relief when McClane and his wife Holly (Bonnie Bedelia) are reunited and recommencing their marriage.

For a viewer who has never experienced Die Hard before, it was the perfect blend of humour and tension, a balance struck between Willis' haphazardness and Rickman's meticulousness.

For anyone, new to the franchise or a die hard Die Hard fan, the 30th anniversary is the perfect chance to take a moment to experience the thrills all over again.